The Internet worldwide network enables many digital appliances to interconnect and exchange information. A particular use of the Internet is to distribute digital files, specifically digital content (such as digital books, music or video files, or games) to connected appliances. The proliferation and distribution of such files is substantial. For example, various devices, programs, and methods are available to listen to digital music, and an increasing number of music titles exist in digital form. Unfortunately, there exists a substantial amount of illegal copies of such files. Digital rights management (DRM) systems have been developed to address this difficulty. Part of the function of a typical DRM system is to define the form of a “rights-protected file”—a digital content file with rights that enable use of the file under limitations defined by the owner of the digital content. Access to DRM-protected content requires an associated license, and the DRM-protected content is usually associated with some data that points to a license server and the associated license. Some other DRM systems keep information about the server that delivers the content as a mechanism to review the associated license. In operation, a device contacts a license server to either initially acquire the license or to later renew the license, if the license has expired. However, license renewal or acquisition requires connecting to a remote license server in a process that relies on a network protocol. For example, the Internet can be used to connect to a specific URL of a license server. In some situations, access to the license server may not be convenient, thereby preventing a user from acquiring or renewing a license.
Instead of using the Internet to distribute digital content, digital content can be stored and distributed on memory cards or other portable memory devices in a process known as “super-distribution.” With “super-distribution,” the digital content is freely distributed, but the license for use of the super-distributed, DRM-protected content is acquired from a license server at the time the user chooses to access the content. Again, if access to the license server is not convenient, the user would be prevented from acquiring the license needed to use the super-distributed, DRM-protected content.